Cultivator mechanism



'w. N. SPRINGER.

CULTIVATOR MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 17 I916 .RENEWED DEC- 3| 1920. I 1,384, 11 1. Patented July 12, 1921.

I fittorzzey.

W. N. SPRINGER.

CULTIVATOR MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED MAY II, I916- RENEWED DEC. 3. 1920.

Patented Jul 12, 1921.

'2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

inven o PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM SPR INTGER, OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA.-

CULTIVATOR MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent, I Patented J l 12 1 92L 7 Application filed-May 17, 1916, Serial No. 98,105. Renewed December 3, 1920. Serial No. 428,152.

vators of the straddle row class which are propelled-by engines and constructed in such way as to leave the front ends of the implements exposed and liable to contact with growing plants. The object is to guard against breaking ormarring young trees, shrubs, berry'plants, or the like, when the machine isused in nursery work, and to Sl'llGlCl'SilEtlkS, stems, leaves, and the l1ke,i of 'theplants growing in rows, such as corn,

plants, when they are being cultivated.

Figure l is a plan view of a mechanism embodying my improvements;

- Fig. 2 is a side elevation; 1 Fig. 3 is a front elevation;

Fig. 4 is arearview, I

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, central, vertical longitudinal section showing the shield and adjacent supporting parts;

Figs. 6 and 7 are fragmentary transverse sections-within the framebars 1, 1,; and 3, 3, respectively. A a r In the drawings Iihave showntor indicated enough of the parts :of a power-propelled cultivating implement to convey an under standing of how my improvements are to be applied thereto. And inasmuch as there can be variation, and a wide choice of detail inthe construction of the operative parts of the tool, it is not necessary to describe all of thoseindicated. Suffice it to say that in the mechanism shown. there is a .main framework formed oftwo elements A'and A, which are laterally adjustable as to each other.- This frame is supported attherear on the supporting and traction or driving wheelsiB, 'B', (by which it is also propelled,) and which also can .be utilized forsteering it. iAt. the front endthe frame is supported upon wheels G, G. The. framework fitted. in tubes :orfemale elements 474 carwill preventstalks, stems and limbs of growto the, central frame D. The verticahwalls ried by a central frame, and by means of them theside frame elements can be moved outward or inward for different adjustments. After adjustment they can beset firmly in position by set screws or equivalent devices for fastenin them to the connect- 111%2Hld holding devices 4, 4.

pon the central frame, indicated as a whole by D, is mounted theengine E. The power shafting of the engine is connected Bby drive chains. i I

In another application, to wit, Serial'No. 45,968, filed August 17, 1915, I have set forth a powersp'ropelled cultivating mecha-. nism with i substantially all of the details illustrated, and reference can bemade thereto- M I have found. that when an implement of this classv is propelled by'power devices mounted directly on the machine andpushing it forward, in contradis'tinction :from ordinary propulsion by draft, animals, it is 1 very advantageous to provide means that,

ing plants frombeing caughtin, or struck by, the parts of the mechanism. The framework is constructed of bars, horizontal and vertical, braces, brackets and bolts, and the ground-working tools, themselves, have pro; jecting parts which are apt to catch and be,- come tangled with, or strike against, the

. stems, limbs, stalks, ete, referred to. 1 1.

I have combined with the parts: above mentioned a guard or shielch; It is composed off along trunk-like section F extending from a verticaltransverse plane,

neartherearmost shovels or tools forward to a plane near the front end, and a front. section G. 1 i

The rear box-like part F has vertical walls 7, .7 and atop wall f. Itis formed of a sheet of metal bent, to provide the walls specified. The top wall or part f is secured.

The walls f, f, lying inside 11b M to therear driving and steering wheels B, y

7 .parts 7 and f. 1 p

The .walls of the shieldare carried as low smooth surfaces extending from the front of the machine to its rear.

The front section G of the shield has the outwardly curved or flaring walls 5/, g,

and the upwardly inclined or curved top 9. These walls g, g, slope inward and down ward until "they reach the planes of the walls 7, f and f, f r

In the bell-shaped mouth or flared front end G there are also smooth surfaces form'- ing extensions of the inner surfacesfof the as practicable so as toguideupward and inward stalks, stems or limbs that: tendto droop or sag outward'anddownward.

The manner in which thedevices operate 7 will be readily understood.:. The operator, by the use of the proper manually controlled devices, applies power from :the engine :to

' the ground wheels and causes Itheimplement to advance. As it moves forward, the stalks of. the row of plants, or the limbs of the tree,-bush or shrub, which it. is desired to cultivate, are deflected. upward: and inward tota vertical position; the shield or guard box smoothly slips along by their sides, and they. are so held. as not to be struck by, or caught among, the bars, braces, or otherproj ecting "parts of the mechanism.

, Asithe machine self-steering, thatis to say, as its parts are so arranged that the wheels and cultivating tools can be turned so 'as'to run in toward, or'turned so as to travel away from, the roots 'of a tree or shrub, it-is very advantageous to be able to pick up the stalks, stems or limbs and bring them to the center of the machine, and to a more or less upright position, as above described, to save them from injury from either the tools or the wheels. 7 a

A cultivating implement of this class, which is propelled from points behind its front end, isava'ilable-for much-work in which the ordinary horse draft tools cannot be employed. This is particularly true in respect to the work of cultivating the plants in a nursery or orchard. Many of the bushes and shrubs tend to spread widely as they grow, and when the implements are drawn by horses with tongues or draft devices in the front of. the implements, the animals tend to tramp upon'and break the plants. With the mechanism of the sort herein shown the cultivating tools can be brought close into the roots without endangering' them;

therefore, the side elements of the frame can ,be laterally adjusted as circumstances require, without affecting the position of the box guide. I a i can be used, and insomecases it is sufiicient to merely pick up the drooping and sagging limbs or stems and bring them tothe, center, particularly where a short tool frame is used in contrast with the rearwardly elongated gangs which are shown in the. drawings.

The desideratumis to pickup the limbs or stems and to cause them tomove inward out of the lines of the stools.

Nor do. 1, limit myself to a boX -likede vice which has continuous guide walls. Some plants require cultivation whose limbs or stems are such-yt-hat narrower bars or lattice bars can belused, provided they are sufficient to bring. the plants in, to central vertical planesand hold them long'enough.

for the tools to pass: What I claim is: r 1. A cultivating implement T adapted. to

cultivate the soil adjacent'vto Qbushes or young trees, having, in combination, a

framework having high arches "over the dinal planes of the tool paths to the said I centrallopen spacexand arranged to leave said space unobstructed from the ground to .a horizontal plane near the arches.

2.]The combination of the wheel support.-. ed framework having relatively: elevated f-ront: and rear arches extending over :the

plant row, the tool gangsispacedapartat the central longitudinal lines "of the 'Fma- I chine, "the "power devices on the framework for" propelling the frame and the tools, the shield arranged to provide an unobstructed central passageway extending from ithe ground to a horizontal planenearthe arches and having a flaring front end projected forward from thej'frame' and. arranged-topress the plants inward from the lines of tool gangs advanced-by the frame, the engine on the frame, power-transmitting de v ces connectlng the engine to the ground having wheels, the plant guard having vertical walls secured to the frame rigidly relatively to the arches and spaced apart to follow the sides of the, rows of plants, and having the flaring guideway in front of the tool gangs arranged to bring the stalksand limbs inward toward the center of the machine .to the space between the vertical walls.

4. The combination of the laterally extensible framework having arches with extensible top elements adapted to travel over the tops of the plants, the traction ground wheels for propelling the frame, the tools arranged to travel on each side of the plants, the engine on the frame connected to the traction wheels, the plant guiding and guarding device having a box-like section secured rigidly to the frame and adapted to be held permanently, in the center, transversely of the frame under all extension adjustments, and the flaring guide section projecting forward from the arches and communicating with the box-like section.

5. The combination of the frame having In testimony whereof, I aflix my signa- 35 ture, in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM N. SPRINGER. Witnesses:

GEORGEE. WOLF, HELEN JANOWSKI. 

